“I want to thank Coach (Dabo) Swinney and the Clemson family for giving me the opportunity to be a part of something special,” Johnson said. “I’ve met some amazing people who I will forever call family. I am a better man and a better football player because of my time spent at Clemson. Go Tigers!”

And from Swinney: “While it is always disappointing to lose a great person and a great player, I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to work with Hunter and watch him grow and develop over the last year and a half. Hunter is one of the best young men I have ever coached and has a very bright future ahead of him. I wish him all the best as he decides on his destination.”

Rest assured those potential destinations will be abundant and widespread.

There are plenty of schools (perhaps most in the Big 10?) where Johnson could step in and instantly be the No. 1 guy, and that prospect has to be appealing for a 20-year-old who has been afforded all of 76 career snaps.

The bottom line is that Johnson obviously saw the writing on the wall and made the best decision based on his current situation, er, predicament.

The fact that Johnson has chosen to play elsewhere is not an indictment of his talent, which he flashed last season on multiple occasions – albeit in mop-up duty – but more an understanding of well, his standing.

He was going to be the third man off the bench at best this fall, and quite frankly that would qualify as a disservice to his abilities and skill level.

Two years ago Johnson was ranked as the nation’s top quarterback by ESPN and was the Most Valuable Player in the U.S. Army All-American Game. As a freshman for the Tigers last season he completed 21 of 27 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns and his .778 completion percentage was tops in the nation among quarterbacks with at least 25 pass attempts.

He’s good, obviously, but not better than the two guys head of him.

Johnson’s departure leaves Clemson with only three scholarship quarterbacks heading into the fall, which is half the number the Tigers had only four short months ago. Zerrick Cooper announced his transfer on Jan. 19, and backup Tucker Israel followed suit four days later, meaning that Clemson will enter fall camp with only one quarterback with appreciable game experience for a second consecutive year.

But one can’t blame Johnson for making the right decision. Incumbent Kelly Bryant only has one more season, but freshman Trevor Lawrence is expected to be the Tigers’ star of the future. Sophomore Chase Brice, a Top 15 prospect coming out of high school, will now move up to third on the Tigers’ depth chart.

Transfers have become a way of life in college sports, particularly in basketball and football, and Clemson isn’t immune to the burgeoning trend.

Does Dabo Swinney hate to lose a five-star quarterback? Sure he does.

But he also realizes the desire for a young man of considerable talent to take the field on football Saturdays knowing he’s going to line up behind center on his team’s first possession rather than its last.